Independent Pilot Competition

The pilot program that started it all!

Headed into its tenth season, SeriesFest’s Independent Pilot Competition provides a platform for the most innovative drama, comedy, and animated pilots out there ranging from 18 to 60 minutes.

SUBMISSIONS OPEN NOW!

Please carefully review the deadlines, material requirements, and guidelines listed below and our FilmFreeway page. Fill out your applications and get your projects in before the final deadline. Have questions? Check out our Submission FAQs or email us at info@seriesfest.com.

KEY DATES & FEES

	Early-Bird Deadline OCT 01, 2023	Regular Deadline DEC 01, 2023	Final Deadline JAN 11, 2024
Standard	$60	$80	$110
FilmFreeway Gold Member	$40	$60	$90
Student	$35	$45	$55

AWARDS & PRIZES

Official Selections are up for the following awards:

Best Pilot Award for Drama and Comedy **
Best Performance
Best Director
Best Writer
Audience Award

Winners will be determined by a jury of high-profile industry and talent during the annual festival. Awards are announced at our Awards Ceremony and will be included in our website and media announcements. Past jurors include Kim Catrall, Nina Dobrev, Laura Fischer (PowderKeg), Dade Hayes (Deadline), Travis Tammero (CAA), Susan Lewis (Starz), Alison Wasserman (HBO), Chaka Pilgrim (Roc Nation). Scroll down to see the complete list of last year’s jurors and winners.

**As an official partner of the Independent Pilot Competition, Company 3 is awarding the winners of the Best Comedy, Drama, and Unscripted series $25K in post-production in-kind services.

INCLUSIVITY INITIATIVE AWARDS

This category is eligible for Inclusivity Initiative Awards including the Level Forward Impact Award, the Caz Matthews Fund, and the Inclusive Creator Fund presented by the Anna & John J. Sie and the Global Down Syndrome Foundations. Awards will be given to the episodic projects and teams who demonstrate a thoughtful, thorough, and deliberate approach to using storytelling as a means of leveling the playing field for underrepresented people including women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA and alternatively abled voices.

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OUTSTANDING SERIES FORMAT DECK AWARD PRESENTED BY CANVA

SeriesFest is partnering with Canva, our Preferred Design Platform, to acknowledge the creativity and skill necessary to build the perfect series format deck. SeriesFest: Season 10 Official Selections who choose to create their series format decks on Canva will have the opportunity to win the inaugural Outstanding Series Format Deck Award, a $5,000 cash prize, for the best series format deck submission created in Canva.

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ENTRY MATERIALS

Produced Pilot
Submitted via FilmFreeway’s Secure Online Screener system. All entries must be between 18 and 60 minutes in length.

Series Format Deck
All submissions must include a Series Format Deck which can either be submitted using a Canva file URL hyper linked under “Project Links” or as a PDF under “Files & Attachments” . An effective Series Format Deck introduces your project in a visually exciting and emotionally powerful way. It captures the reader’s imagination, allowing them to see the full scope of the series and embrace the characters.

The Series Format Deck should be no longer than 15 pages, must be in English, and include the following:

Log Line
Pilot Synopsis
Season One Outline
Main Character Descriptions (Up to 5)
Tone of your series (can include no more than 2 comparisons)
Producing Team
Key Creatives
Goals for your Series
A Creator Statement that includes Why This Idea, Why Me, and Why Now?

Not sure where to get started on your Series Format Deck? You don’t have to start from a blank page. Check out the SERIESFEST – APPROVED TEMPLATE created in Canva. Personalize it, and make it your own!

Press Kit Material
Any available press kit material.

FilmFreeway Entry Fee

Please note, entry materials will not be returned

INCLUSION INITIATIVE WAIVER APPLICATION

SeriesFest, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada, is launching a sequence of opportunities to make our festival more accessible for all content creators and to celebrate a commitment to diversity and equity, including a waiver for submissions. Pilots applying for the Independent Pilot, Digital Short Series, Late Night, and Unscripted Series competitions have the opportunity to apply for a submission waiver.

LEARN MORE

Hear why past participants, including some of your favorite TV stars, are calling SeriesFest “one of the premier television festivals in the world.”